paul mccartney, coming up right [ cheers and applause ] this morning on "early today," end of the road. the long, nasty battle over tax cuts reaches its conclusion with a late night vote. a free m for now. the man behind wikileaks is released from jail and pledges to expose mo secret documents. and bust brawl. fists go flying on a washington bus with a pregnant teen caught fists go flying on a washington bus with a pregnant teen caught in the middle. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. i'm lynn berry. today, we begin with for better or worse, finally, a done deal. house lawmakers cleared the

final hurdle last night, pending a sweeping bipartisan bill to extend bush era tax cuts to the president's desk before they expire january 1st. tracie potts joins us from washingt with more. >> reporter: good morning, lynn. a lot going on here from capitol hill including a final vote on that tax deal. the house voted lateast night 277-148 with both democrats and republicans supporting this bill. so now it goes to the president's disk for his signature. this will keep our current tax tes with no january 1st hike. unemployment will be extended for 13 months. a 2% payroll tax cut next year and business tax credits in addition to that estate tax that democrats did not like. don't ask, don't tell, which has passed t house, will be voted on in the senate perhaps today or tomorrow. it will take 51 votes to pass,

but 60 votes are preferred and as of la, we understand that there are 61 senators who are willing to support that measure. government spending still up in the air. a tempora measure runs out tomorrow, but we understand now that the senate will not be voting on the democrat's $1.3 trillion plan from late night negotiations, but they have abandon that. it includes thousands of earmarkspork items for specific districts and republicans called it unbelievable, threatening a filibuster. now we'reooking at another temporary extension of government extensions. finally, secretary of state clinton now saying she believes there is a willingness among republicans to get this done. there was late night debate in the senate on that which will likely continue toy. lynn. >> tracie potts there in washington, thank you so much. ikileaks founder julian

assange made a triumphant exit from jail yesterday. meanwhile, congress was told thursday assange and his wikileaks website must be prosecuted to prevent future copycat operations on the internet. nbc's jenny wivel has our report on assange's new-found freedom. >> reporter: julian assange emerge from the royal courts of justice inondon at the end of a very long day, he looked extremely pleased with himself, however, as he branded his release documents and gave a short statement to the hundreds of journalists who gathered from all around the world on the steps saying, firs of all, that he was very grateful for all of the support that he's received, but he remains defiant. >> i hope to continue my work and continue to profess my

independence. >> reporter: he then had to head off to his lodging where he's be staying over the coming weeks as he fights his extradition to sweden the. he has, of course, been living in solitary confinement inside britain's largestprison. where he's going next, he's going to be in a ten-bedroom mansion on a 600-acre country estate. jenny wivel, nbc news, london. >> now here's a look at other stories making news early today in america. five washington teens are if police custody after they viciously attacked a pregnant teen and her boyfriend on a seattle bus. the confrontation started when one of the teens took an mp3 player from the girl. when she approached them to get it back, they attacked her and her boyfrien punching, slapping and kicking them. fortunately the girl was not hit in the stomach, her baby was not hurt but she did require

stitches for caught above her eye. one houston woman warns don't do what i did. super market security cameras showed the moment a man snatched r wallet the second she left r bag unattended. police a looking for the man who they say tried to use her credit card ten minutes later. with a little help, the hard rock hotel and casino in florida set a world record for smashing 2,400 guitars. the broken gtars were donated to disabled artists who will create art pieces which in turn will be shoulder for charity. > and in rhode land, tony lapour, the dancing cop, is spreading holiday cheer. he will performing at different intersections all around town. his grand performance will be on christmas eve when he comes, you guessed it, dressed as santa. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here is nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast.

good morning. >> good morning, lynn. not easy for him. it's cold, he has to bundle up. >> hopefully you have go news for him. >> not bad. let's talk about the weekend problems. for today, not many weather issues. buthis ekend, if you're in new england, you could be dealing with a snowstorm possibly. another, another big blast of cold air coming down in the northern plains. the west cast will be soggy. anyone travel go california over the next weekend will get drenched. as far as the temperatures go this morning, the freezing line not too bad. 20s up in new england as you would expect. now, we're going to watch this storm system that is now in northern texas. this is what will be moving across the country in the southeast and this will possibly be the east coast snowstorm. as of now, it looks to be just far enough off the shore that most of the mid-atlantic misses it. but long island and areas of eastern new england could still get hit. so still snow fromlbuquerque

to santa fe. but as far as any travel issues, just showers around new orleans. you notice a little warm-up on the eastern seaboard. that's a quick look at your friday forecast. now here is a look at the weather outside your window. you can see we don't really have many weather concerns today. it's more or less heading towards the weekend that we'll have any problems. washington, d.c. after 1 to 2 inches of snow yesterday, it's a cold morning, but 34 degrees and sunshine this afternoon shou begin to melt most othat. lynn, more details on that weekend forecast, come. >> bill, thanks so much. also coming up, upbeat onomic data. sizzling stock markets and the feel-good auction of the year. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, it was a cool concept back in the early 80s, but will film audiences go for it today? coming up, vincent jackson leads the charge against the 9ers. the correc continue their december to remember and qte possibly the dunk of the year. we're running out of time, so it

ought to happen soon. you're watching "early today."

good morning, and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. here are some of your top headlines this morning. presidenobama says the u.s. is make significant progress in its goal of dismantling the taliban in afghanistan. that awaits a long awaited report on the war and a news conference yesterday. however, the international committee of the red cross which rarely makes public statements is painting a much bleaker picture saying humanitarian conditions there are the worst its seen in decades. an army doctor who refused to deploy to afghanistan because he questioned president obama's eligibility to be commander in chief is headed to a military prison. lieutenant colonel terrance lakin who became the posteroy

for the so-called birther movement will serve six months and be dismissed from the army. former president jimmy carter thinks america may be ready to elect a gay president. carter said the country's polation has made tremendous strides forward in dealing with the issue of home mow sexuality and that the u.s. may have a gay president in, quote, the near future the. and researchers in spain are showing whoff what may be the wheelchair of the fure. it enables users to stand, walk and climstairs. >> and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 11,499 after gaining 41 points yesterday. the s&p was up 7 points. the nasdaq added 20. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei shed 7 points, but in hong kong, the hang seng rose 46. on wall street thursday, upbeat

economic news and general optimism kept the profit takers on the sidelines. stocks gained across the board with markets hitting two-year highs. worries on treasury yields fell as did the dollar and gold and unlike the last three days, there was no late day sell-f. first time claims for unemployment fell to 420,000, the third drop in four weeks. housing stops rose slightly last month. businesses and consumers are shipping more packages, so fedex raised earnings prediction, seen as another sign the economy was improving. visa and mastercard tumbled after a fed proposal that would force banks andnetwork toes slash the fees they charge retailers on debit cards. american express was the dow's worst performer. keep an eye on oracletoday. after the bell, the softwaremakewas up. after the close, research in motion jumped after reporting

thirquarter results. elsewhere, the food and drug administration recommended avastin nolonger be used to treat breast cancer, likely causing roche hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue. honda plans to recall 143,000 fit subcompacts in the u.s. to fix defective headlight ring. congress passed a law to make cars and trucks to make an artificial warning noise when traveling below 20 miles per hour. timely, the purse used by georgia littton to disarm a gunman last week will be auctioned off for charity. ppy ending there. lightning strikes thrice in san diego. the celti streak reaches a dozen and hockey powers collide

north of the border. plus, the arena may still be shaking after this stunt last night. your early morning sports headlines arjust ahead. in weather, i'll have an active weekend forecast for you. that's coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, last night in nfl action, a receiver for san dieg picked a perfect night to put a charge into the home team. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. when the season started, vincent jackson was nowhere to be found. he held out because he wante a new deal and missed the first ten games. last night, jackson went back and proved his worth against the 9ers. philip rivers threw up a jump ba down the sideline. jackson went up and he got it. 7-0, chargers and he was just gettinwarm. rivers found him again in the second quarter. san diego up, 17-0 at the half. jumped towards the end zone, touchdown number three. chargers won it, 34-7. basketball's rajon rondo will be out a week with an injury. nate robinson, he can do it

inside, nate can do it outside. drilled the straightaway three. celts up 11. boston won their 12th straight, 102-90. the nuets j.r. smith soed to the rim for a two-handed jam. he threw over george hilt for the dunk of the night, maybe for the year. seven seconds left to play, manu gonobili, nuggets win, right? wrong. anthony was called for an offensive foul. the spurs won it, 113-112. it's the most exciting play in hockey, the penalty shot. the goalie went the other way, montreal led, 1-0. this brought the everyone to their feet. subon leveled marshon.

that is going to hurt in the morning. that's your early look at sports on "early today." have a terrific weekend. i'm fred roggin. > an american icon of the airways signs off for the last time. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, speaking ofamericana, we'll tell y how the oldest ling american globe-trotter made a comeback. you're watching "early today."

welcome back. let's break down your weekend forecast. for friday, today, no problems out there. a little snow in northern texas. showers in new orleans. east coast looks okay today after yesterday's snow. we should melt it in a hurry. temperatures on turday in the 30s and 40s, not bad. ld air and snow showers from minneapolis to chicago. the big thing is on sunday, what happens with our ocean storm? we're watching new england for the potential for snow. at this point, does not look like a blockbuster or nor'easter. stay tuned. if you're watching us from atlanta, georgia, explore the surreal world of savlador dolly. view the paintings and prints at the dolly museum of art. that's your "early today" event of the day, lynn. >> thanks so much, bill. now here's a look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. the g question at the box office this weekend is 28 years

too long to do a sequel "tron legacy" will be the sure fire number one this weekend begin to go earn back the reported $170 million it took to make. experts say it should take in $40 milliono $50 million. film hungry family audiences will flock to "yogi bear." it should finish second, above $20 million. critically acclaimed, award nominated, but not exactly what you'd call fun, "the ighter" is expected to finish third. the $100 million dollar romantic comedy, "how do you know" will struggle, lucky to break the top five, lucky to top $10 million. finally, larry king hung up his suspenders for good last night, signing off after 25 years on krn. did you catch it,bil >> i didn't. but i'm going to go back and watch some of the highlights of

it. i'm glad regisfeldman was on, too. >> it's sort of ominous, the lights come down. >> there was a point in time whe he had every good interview. >> yep. well, this comes to us from numbers 24 in oledo, ohio, where a pctically new man performed some of his old tricks. a few months ago, al price was wheelchair bound with balance problems, but all that changed with the 93-year-old therapist put a basketball in his hand. in the 1940s, al was one of the top trick basketball players in the world. now the 93-year-old harlem globe-trotter is back to his old tricks. look at him. good for him. i'm lynnerry, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

well, a lite bit of shoveling and a lot of waiting. drivers hoping to move a little more quickly this morning than during the commute last night, while others are just waiting for word whether they can go anywhere this morning. . good morning. i'm joe krebs. >> did you get stuck in traffic yestday? >> it wasn't too bad. not at the time i was traveling. wasn't too bad. >> there was a little bit of traffic going out when i was picking up my child from school. i think people got stuck in a big way.

everyone was leaving early. i'm eun ya. it is friday, december 17th, 2010. a number of classes have canceled or delayed classes. those delayed include fairfax and massas city schools. both scol systems are opening two hours late this morning. all federal agencies in the d.c. region are open th morning. employees are speexpected to ret on time. go to nbcwashiton.com. we'll be scrolling the complete listight there on your screen. >> a live look at the roads in virginia. this is i-95. virginia state police say there were nearly 2,000 accidents yesterday mostly because of the slick road conditions obviously. most accidents were